1941 research outputs found
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An Analysis of State Policy Implementation on School Consolidation: Working From the Bottom Up
Get PDFiii, 127 leaves. Advisor: Perry JohnstonThe Problem: The problem of this study was to provide an analysis of Iowa's state policy on whole grade sharing and school consolidation. The study was designed to ascertain if the policies of the state of Iowa were effective in encouraging small rural school districts to whole grade share and follow up with school consolidation.
Procedure: Four whole grade sharing school districts were chosen for the study. District administrators were interviewed. Questions were asked to determine the influence of state policies in aiding or impeding the districts to consolidate.
Findings: The findings were that mandates from state agency levels do make a difference on how a school district may plan, but not always in the manner that the state agency may desire. Inducements from the state level could influence
how school districts reacted to state mandates, but not every school district responded in the same manner. Local conditions within local school districts influenced how the local districts responded to state initiatives. Community
traditions, concern for educational quality, district financial health, district facilities and the state efforts combined to produce outcomes that were desired by the state and outcomes that defied state intentions.
Conclusions: Policy makers can provide mandates and inducements that cause citizens at local levels of government to make changes in the makeup of local school districts, however not all state attempts will be successful. Local control and values still play a strong part in the decision making process at the local level.
Recommendations: Studies of the process of sharing, whether or not it led immediately to consolidation should be conducted five and ten years after the successful mergers to see what has changed, especially assessing whether long term
conditions have changed sufficiently to support a different outcome or reinforced the present outcome.
Since state policy can make a difference, mandates and support, carefully measured, can cause change, but not always. In the final analysis, this issue is like so many other state policy issues in being about how we govern ourselves in a federalist democracy
Effects of Senescence on Vascular Smooth Muscle in the Yellow Mud Turtle "Kinosternon flavescens" (Family "Kinosternidae")
Get PDF28 leaves. Advisor: James L. ChristiansenCurrent literature suggests that reptiles do not undergo senescence and certainly do not age in a manner similar to mammals. This study examines age-related changes in reptilian arteries to evaluate similarities to age-related changes in mammals. Arterial sections from a wild population of turtles ranging in age from 6 to 3% years were
examined histologically. Connective tissue-stained arteries showed statistically significant
deposition of connective tissue in the tunica media with advancing age, consistent with
senescent mammalian arteries. Living rings of arterial tissue from the same turtles were
stimulated with potassium chloride, phenylephrine, acetylcholine, and isoproterenol to
identify physiological responses in the vascular smooth muscle. No statistically significant
changes in response related to aging were observed. Contractions were produced by
acetylcholine, a feature typical of "Pseudemys scripta" and not of mammals. Isoproterenol
did not produce contractions suggesting "K. flavescens" lack beta-2 receptors or these
receptors do not operate similarly to mammals. The lack of decrease in arterial
responsiveness in senescent arteries suggests that turtles may possess a mechanism for
increasing myofibril strength in the presence of decreased myofibril mass and increased
connective tissue
Vision of 21st Century Iowa Schools : Superintendents Speak Out
Get PDFiii, 104 leaves. Advisor: Annette M. Liggett.The problem: What the K-12 educational reform movement has done throughout the 1990s is to create a dialogue around the beliefs, values, and purposes of schooling in this country. Conversations among educators, legislators, federal and state policy makers, and members of the business community are well documented. What has not occurred is the consideration of the viewpoints of those who are actually implementing restructuring efforts. The purpose of this study was to add to existing research by examining what Iowa school superintendents hope for the future of K-12 schooling and to provide insights to other policy makers about what local district level leaders in the state consider important to current educational reform efforts.
Procedures: From 25 nominated superintendents 12 were chosen and asked two research questions. The methodology based on naturalistic inquiry techniques included in-depth interviews and constant comparison analysis. Literature on
visionary leadership was used in reaching conclusions, implications, and recommendation for further study.
Findinqs: Superintendents characterized their vision of Iowa schools as caring communities of learners in which relationships were valued and nurtured, where democratic principles were modeled in all aspects of school life, and where conversation and development of human resources were valued. In addition, they hoped for a more flexible system in structure and daily functioning. The superintendents' explanation of what likely would get in the way of achieving
this vision ot Iowa schools encompassed four major themes:
(a) insufficient funding, (b) powerful childhood memories of their own schooling along with satisfaction with their current neighborhood schools, (c) personal and professional
short-comings, (d) lack of understanding of the change process.
Conclusions: As society changes schools must change as rapidly just to keep pace. Second, while superintendents can shape key factors to guide the future of schooling, other factors that are deeply embedded in the broader society will require broad community effort to help influence reform.
Recommendations:
1. Similar research should be conducted with other
local district stakeholders to better understand multiple viewpoints of what schools should be.
2. Research on how visions actually get implemented will be enormously important to the future of K-12 education in Iowa, as well as across the nation
Single Parents' Preferences and Expectations for Home-School Communication
No full text281 leaves.
Advisor: Edward R. DucharmeThis study focuses on single parents' preferences and expectations for home-school communication in public schools. Home-school communication has received considerable attention from educators and parents in recent years.
Many see this communication as a vital link in establishing partnerships between educators and parents.Parents are the first teachers for most children and want the best for them. Parents have considerable influence on their children throughout the time they are in school. Studies show that parents want to know what is going on in school, how they can be a part of the school, and how they can assist their child at home. Parents prefer communication that is timely,understandable, and informal.Unfortunately, however, communication from the school
to home does not always meet these needs. Some parents believe that they are working in partnership with the schools. Single parents often believe they are left out of this partnership because of lack of time, economics, and
other issues which make it difficult for them to
communicate with educators. Educators cannot ignore these issues because the numbers of single parents and of students from single-parent homes have risen dramatically in the last two decades. Students from single-parent families now comprise almost one-third of all students. I conducted this study in several school districts inWestern Iowa. Interviews were used to determine single
rents' preferences and expectations for home-school communication. Many of these communications were initiated by the school. Some, however, were initiated by single parents. These contacts were also explored. Single parents had ample opportunities to share insights. The goal of the researcher was to look for themes and patterns in the lives at these parents, especially as th related to the school.
This study was done to gain a better understanding of situations facing single parents and their
expectations regarding communication with schools.
Several findings emerged from the research. One result is that educators should explore new means of communication with single-parent homes instead of assuming that present means are acceptable. Staff development is needed in order to accomplish this goal. I hope a result will be that students from single-parent homes will demonstrate higher levels of achievement
Drug Use Incidence Recorded in a Midwestern Emergency Department
Get PDFxi, 108 leaves. Advisor: Marion HemstromOrem's conceptual framework of nursing was
utilized as a basis for this study of drug use
incidents. The purpose of this study was to
describe drug use incidents in a midwestern
hospital (MWH) emergency department and to
compare some of that data with DAWN and MINIDAWN
data from 1992. A retrospective review of
151 patient admissions to MWH emergency
department with the diagnosis of drug abuse, drug
overdose, or drug dependency during 1992 was
conducted. Incidents involving alcohol alone were
not included. Analyses of data showed more female
than male clients were involved in drug overdose;
the mean age of males was 6-18 years while the
mean age of females invlolved in drug use incidents was older at 30-54 years of age. Most drug incidents presented to the emergency department between 1600-1959 hours and involved alcohol in combination with other drugs. There were significantly more incidents of marijuana and
amphetamine use at MWH than were reported to
DAWN and significantly fewer incidents of cocaine
and heroin. There were significantly more
incidents of marijuana and acetaminophen use at
MVW than were reported to MINI-DAWN. This
study provides a profile of the drug use client at
MWH which may be useful to nurses to anticipate
and care for the client, implementing the nursing
system described by Orem as best meeting the
needs of the client
Gene Therapy for Osteosarcoma : "In Vitro" Characterization of Five Tumor Cell Lines and Development of Treatment Models "In Vivo"
Get PDF135 leaves. Advisor: Dean A. HogansonFour human osteosarcoma cell lines (MNNG, TE85, MG63, and G292) and a human-derived osteosarcoma metastatic to murine lung (MLM) were transduced "in vitro" using retroviral vectors containing the Herpes simplex thymidine kinase (HS-tk), human
interleukin 2 (IL2). and B-galactosidase (BAG) genes. Each osteosarcoma cell line was stably transduced, and the HS-tk gene effectively conferred ganciclovir (GCV) susceptibility to transduced cells. Each cell line showed a bystander effect (whereby wild type tumor cells are killed by co-incubation with HS-tk positive tumor cells and GCV).
MNNG cells were used to develop a series of experiments in athymic nude mice to investigate the utility of gene therapy for the treatment of experimental osteosarcomas. Subcutaneous implants of mixtures of tumor cells and HS-tk vector producer cells (vpc) resulted in the development of tumors which were completely cured upon administration of GCV. Subcutaneous implant of mixtures of transduced and wild-type cells resulted in a potent bystander effect upon administration of GCV, with complete tumor ablation when as little as ten percent of the cells were HS-tk positive. A significant anti-tumor response was seen against primary tumors comprised of unmodified cells when a
secondary tumor of transduced cells was induced at a distance of one centimeter, which supports a soluble bystander factor model. The presence of IL2-transduced cells significantly improved the efficacy of treatment, suggesting a synergy between the HS-tk and IL2 gene products. A significant anti-tumor response was seen in the treatment of established osteosarcomas by the injection of HS-tk vpc
A Case Study of Literacy Development Through Whole Language in a Tenth-Grade Language Arts Classroom
Get PDFviii, 209 leaves. Advisor: James L. RomigThe Problem: The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe and document the perceptions of twenty-two tenth-grade English students and their two language arts teachers as they implemented Atwell's whole language reading/writing workshop
approach toward the development of true literacy, which was defined in this study as the ability to use critical thinking skills to solve problems.
Procedures: The researcher was a participant observer in the classroom approximately twice a week, one hour a day for an 18 week period. In this case study, theory was grounded in the contextual descriptions that the students and teachers revealed through interviews, portfolios, journals, and observations of their learning to be readers and writers. Relationships between whole language and active learning were examined
through changing teacher roles, changing student roles, and changing student concepts.
Findings: Finds of this study showed that the Atwell readinglwriting model is a successful vehicle for literacy development. Teachers and students adopted new roles enabling them to become more effective problem solvers. There was a collaborative effort between student and teacher to choose meaningful content, benchmarks for
success, and evidence of student self-reflection. This pedagogy combined curriculum, instruction and assessment in an integrated way to support students in their active construction of knowledge and meaning as they used self-regulated, creative and critical thinking.
Conclusions: The conclusions of this study were that students have to be active participants in a constructive learning environment to produce authentic products; teachers must perceive of themselves as facilitators rather than controllers of learning; students must perceive that they have been given the trust to make appropriate choices
about their literacy development; and each student must be able to reflect upon and to develop his or her individual literacy.
Recommendations: The model was applied with success in this one classroom providing clear evidence that there are implications for future studies: (a) Whole language helps students learn. (b) Authenticity is an essential aspect of whole
language. (c) Whole language and authentic assessment involve student interaction.
(d) Teacher evaluation should be focused on learning instead of assigning grades
An Analysis of Selected 1994-95 Phase III Plans Submitted Under the Iowa Educational Excellence Act (Chapter 294A)
Get PDFiii, 140 leaves. Advisor: Hilda Williams.The problem: In 1987, the Iowa Legislature enacted the Iowa Educational Excellence Act to provide financial incentives to raise teacher salaries through locally developed plans. Phase III of the act promoted the development of performance based and supplemental pay plans. In 1993, the legislative focus was changed to comprehensive
school transformation. The study was guided by four questions; 1) What sources of school improvement literature and recommendations are cited in Phase III rationales? 2) What rationales are developed for Phase III plans? 3) What activities are developed for Phase III plans? and 4) What is the congruence or agreement between pian rationales and plan activities?
Procedures Content Analysis methodology was used to analyze a sample of 23 Phase III plans submitted for the 1994-95 school year. The findings include an analysis of the proposed plan rationales and activities by comparing the Phase III plans to the three most recent educational reform movements; the excellence movement, the
professionalization movement and the school restructuring or transformation movement.
Findings and conclusions: 1) The Phase III citations used inconsistent formats. The data from the study proved inadequate for any findings. 2) Phase III rationales are not consistently transformational. Only 4 of 23 Phase III rationales were consistently linked to school transformation. 3) Although many of the activities in Phase III plans were transformational, student centered and performance based activities found in Phase III activities were inconsistent with the school transfomation literature. 4.)The agreement
(congruence) between plan rationales and plan activities was 71%.
Recommendations: 1) Improve the focus of the Phase III program by eliminating performance based pay and supplemental pay 2) The Iowa Department of Education should take a stronger role in influencing school transformation 3) Include administrators in Phase III 4) Strengthen the transformational leadership role of Area Education
Associations
Characterization of the Surface Proteins of the Anatid herpesvirus
No full text[v], 48 leaves. Advisor: James C. JohnsonA plaque purified isolate, Anatid herpesvirus (AHV-ppc3) of the Holland strain of AHV (American Type Culture Collection No. VR684) was propagated in chicken embryo fibroblasts and purified by differential and buoyant density sedimentation through thtough sucrose gradients. A total of 17 putative virus proteins were consistently identified in both polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and radioautogram. Coomassie blue staining techniques identified 10 virus bands. The remaining 7 virus proteins were identified using
radioautography. AHV polypeptides identified ranged from 6 to 199 Kd. AHV contains major polypeptides with molecular weights of 173, 144, 118, 105, and 76.3 Kd. In addition, AHV possess minor polypeptide bands with molecular weights of 195, 183, 92.8, 81.4, 55.7, 52.0, 42.2, 32.6, 17.1, 7.91, and 6.16 Kd. It has been demonstrated, in this study, that the Anatid herpesvirus putative surface proteins are very similar in molecular weights to those reported for other herpesviruses
A Case Study of the Effects of a Sibling-Attended Birth
No full text182 leavesSibling-attended birth has been recognized as an option for families to promote attachment and positive family and sibling relationships. Although the short term effects have been studied, little is known about the long-term effects to the sibling and the extended
family. his study explored how sibling participation in the birth process affects attachment, sibling relationships and family relationships.
The following questions were developed for the
study: (1) What thoughts, feelings and perceptions does a family who has had a sibling present at birth have regarding the birthing experience? (2) How do family members perceive the sibling-attended birth as
different than a birth siblings do not attend? (3) How do family members perceive the sibling-attended birth experience has affected attachment, sibling relationships, and family relationships? and (4) What nursing interventions and support measures would family
members recommend to health care professionals to enhance the birth experience for the entire family? A qualitative case study design was employed to explore the thoughts, feelings and perceptions of a family who had experienced a sibling-attended birth. This case study was an in-depth investigation of a family nearly
two years after the birth of the youngest sibling. The family for this study consisted of a mother and father, their three living children, and the maternal and paternal grandparents of the children. The oldest
child was present at the birth of the youngest child nearly two years prior to interview. The data collection instrument utilized assisted in obtaining descriptive data from audiotaped focused interviews with the subjects. Through taped interviews, the researcher and subjects explored aspects of the sibling-attended birth experience that were important to the family. The data were then analyzed to discover
themes or patterns to understand the effects of a sibling-attended birth process.
The conceptual framework of attachment was used to understand the effects of sibling-attended birth. Conceptual themes that were identified were inclusion, exclusion, preparation and values. The themes
emphasized thoughts and feelings about family unity, shared experiences, fear, concern, maturity, gentleness, kindness and modesty. Major implications for advanced nursing practice include providing relevant education to childbearing families about sibling-attended births, preparing grandparents and
siblings as well as parents, helping the sibling feel welcome at the birth and encouraging interaction among family members to enhance sibling attachment and positive family relationships. In addition, understanding the concept of attachment can be viewed as significant in expanding nursing's body of knowledge